Ed Miliband gains enough nominations to enter Labour leadership ballot

Ed Miliband, the former climate change secretary, today became the first Labour leadership candidate to receive enough nominations to enter the ballot when it was disclosed by the party he had received 35 nominations from MPs, two more than required. He has the support of five shadow cabinet members: John Denham, Peter Hain, Hilary Benn, Sadiq Khan and Rosie Winterton. His brother David, the former foreign secretary, has gained 19 nominations including three shadow cabinet members: Douglas Alexander, Pat McFadden and Jim Murphy. There have been suggestions that David Miliband will secure as many 80 nominations by the time the process ends next Thursday. His office insisted they were fighting for every nomination, and no promise could be banked until the MP had signed nomination forms. It was also suggested that Ed Miliband would secure more names, and that he had the early momentum after a campaign organised by Wayne David, the Labour MP. If the Miliband brothers secure more than half the parliamentary party between them, the other four candidates, Diane Abbott, John McDonnell, Andy Burnham and Ed Balls, will struggle to reach the 33 required. Balls advertised only four nominations and Andy Burnham only one, but both have more support. David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, said today he would nominate Abbott. "Ever since I was first elected to parliament I have called for a more diverse and representative political class. It would go against all that not to help Diane Abbott get on to the ballot paper now. To have a leadership election without a single woman involved would send a terrible signal," he said. Burnham, starting to present himself as the outsider among the mainstream candidates, is set to launch a campaign today built round the theme of reconnecting Labour. He said today: "The debate about Labour's future can't be stitched-up in Westminster and closed meetings. We must find ways of opening it up to people in all parts of the country. "Labour can't spend the next few weeks talking to itself and retreating to a comfort zone. There is a danger that we end up focusing on issues of internal resonance and avoid talking about the issues that the public put to us at the election."